memories
by bella-romeo
Summary: 'Even though a moment may last a few seconds, the memory will live on forever' if every thing seemed impossible what would you do? for gray the choice is simple, he will do all that he can to save the ones he love. but at what cost? disclaimer fairy tail is not mine
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey all, this is a random idea that came to mind a few days ago and it's been bugging me ever since so I had to write it down! It's got nothing to do with my other stories and I didn't think it would fit in my one-shots so Tadah here it is. I hope you enjoy**_

Memories:

'**Even though a moment may last a few seconds, the memory will live on forever'**

"This is ridiculous!" Lucy cried as she stood up from the cold hard ground "we've been fighting this demon for ages and it's still winning"

"Don't worry lace! We'll beat it!" Natsu roared as he jumped up in the air with his fists a flamed only to be pushed back by an unknown force. He slammed into the ground next to the celestial mage "Natsu!" she cried but he shakily stood up

"Oh now I'm all fired up!" he roared

"About time" Gray said in a flat tone while trying not to pant, there was no way he was going to look beaten in front of his rival! The dragon slayer looked at him and grinned

"Try and keep up ice princess"

"You're on flame brain" and with that they both charged forward at the demon that stood in front of them. "ice-make spe-" Gray never even had a chance to finish as the mighty demon roared the shockwaves alone forced the two mages backwards. As Gray was falling backwards he saw a blur of red shoot past him and he smirked _I hope this works…_

All he could here is a slicing noise which was followed by the demon crying out. It gave Gray a satisfied smile. _Trust Erza to think of that, wait for me and Natsu to attack to distract that thing and then strike right after when it least expects it. She isn't s-class for nothing!_ But what he wasn't expecting to then hear was a thud next to him. He looked over and saw Erza lying on her back

"Erza!" he shouted and leaned over to help her up "are you ok?" he asked with a worried expression on her face. She nodded solemnly before rising again she re-quipping two swords she ran forward again dodging the giant claws that hit the ground trying to smash into her. _I've got to help _Gray thought as he jumped forward and charged "ice-make floor" Gray cried as the floor in front of him turned to ice, which was just where the demons hand was about to land, when it touched the ice the arm immediately shot forward and the demon fell face first on the ground. Not needing to say anything Erza leapt up in the air and re-quipped her swords into a large spear and with all her might she drove the spear straight into the head of the demon; going straight through its thick skull. It never even had time to roar as death was immediate. Black thick liquid stained the ground. Erza landed gracefully on the ground and walked over to Gray

"Quick thinking Gray well done, I couldn't have done it without you" she said and Gray smirked

"Nah it was nothing, just helped a bit"

"You two make a good little team" Lucy commented as she stood up and wiped the dirt off her clothes "I mean you never even said a word to each other yet you managed to do that. It's like you two are mind readers!"

"Tch Gray didn't do anything special. He just made the floor slippery" Natsu said in a low voice

"Well I did more than you idiot" Gray shot back as he stormed over to the pink haired mage

"That's not true ice princess!" Natsu growled as he marched at Gray

"Oh yea!" a fight was about to break out before they turned to see Erza glaring at them both

"I mean yea we did great" Natsu cheered as the two rivals hugged and smiled widely

"Yes we did all because we are the best of friends" Gray shouted quickly. Erza smiled at them

"That's better, nakama shouldn't fight each other when there are enemies to defeat"

"Yea so play nice" Lucy added as she laughed at how the two males on her team were acting to save themselves from a beating "eww what's that smell" she then said as a rotten smell filled her nose

"Huh?" Gray said as Natsu sniffed the air

"Ugh that is nasty! Smells like something is rotting" the mages all turned around to see the flesh of the demon decompose before there very eyes

"That shouldn't be happening so quickly" Lucy said in a scared tone as she took a step back

"What is going on" Erza asked as she stared at the demon. But before anyone had a chance to comprehend what was happening miniature versions of the demon formed out of the black blood. Even though they were smaller than the original demon they were still twice the size of the fairy tail wizards

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lucy moaned as she looked at the ten demons that faced them

"Alright" Natsu cheered "bet I can get more than you ice cube"

"In your dreams ashes" Gray chuckled as they both charged forward punching the two closest demons sending them flying backwards. Erza also ran forward re-quipping a sword to slice another demon. "I guess I better help" Lucy mumbled as she pulled one of her keys "open the gate of the golden bull! Taurus!" and with a puff of smoke the large bull appeared

"Why hello miss-"

"No time!" Lucy shouted "go help them so this can end" the celestial spirit nodded and charged forward slicing a demon in half with his giant axe. In a matter of no time all ten were down for the count

"That was too easy" Natsu whined but just as he said that the demons split into two and then stood up and slowly walked forward

"You just had to push it, ice blade: seven slice dance!" Gray shouted as ice froze as blades on his elbows he charged and spun quickly slicing the two that were by him. Natsu laughed as he hit another with his flaming fist which sent its head flying

"Something's not right" Erza muttered as she watched the scene in front of her, every time a demon was taken down it split into two and got back up. _Oh no it's cloning magic_ "Gray, Natsu don't kill them!" she shouted and the two mages looked back puzzled

"But they are demons" Natsu said as he set another one on fire

"No you idiot" Gray shouted "look around, every time we kill one of these things they just multiply and bounce back up. Soon there will be hundreds of them!"

"So I'll get them as well!" Natsu roared as he continued to fight

"No Natsu don't!" Lucy cried which stopped Natsu "this isn't the way we need to think of a way to stop them"

"Well you do that while we take care of them" Natsu replied as one of them punched Natsu in the gut that knocked him back. Natsu growled and jumped forward but another one kicked him on the back knocking him to the ground. Gray wasn't having much luck either. He was just trying to block their attacks but sometimes he would hit too hard which would damage tear it causing it to split "damnit there is already so many of them" he said

"I know" Erza replied as they both stood back to back "we can't keep this up forever"

"Well let's just do that for now until we can think of something" Gray said. As time went on they grew more tired and their reflexes slowed down. Now more of the demons punches were hitting their targets. Gray fell to the ground and groaned _this is not good _Lucy had dropped to the floor after using so much magic energy for also Virgo and Capricorn who were trying to cover her. "Close the gates" Natsu shouted "I'll protect you, you can't keep them open for much longer!"

"I have to" Lucy mumbled before passing out

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted as he stood in front of her fighting off any demon that would try and get close to her. The demons now had long claws and were using them as weapons causing more damage to the remaining mages.

Large claws flew at Gray but then fell to the ground as a sword cut them off "get up Gray!" Erza commanded and he obeyed he looked and saw the multiply scratches that were on her face which angered him he lashed forward knocking three demons back

"Are you alright" Gray asked

"Yes, I'm fine now pay attention!" Erza snapped back annoyed that Gray was not focusing on the task at hand

"Well I can't do that when I can see that you're hurt" he said quickly that caused her to stop

"Don't worry about me" she said slowly which caused him to grin

"Sorry can't do that" he laughed "ice-make spears!" he shouted as ice spears sliced through multiple demons. A demon snuck behind the Titania and sliced her arm which caused her to drop her sword and make her arm go limp

"What?" she looked behind her and noticed that the claws were dripping with some green liquid "Gray, Natsu watch out! Some of them have poison on their claws that paralyse wherever they cut" another demon scratched her other arm and she dropped her only sword she growled and kicked the demon but it grabbed her leg and dug its claws in causing her to wince in pain but then it also went limp she fell to the ground; unable to fight and unable to move "Gray!" she shouted and the ice mage turned and ran to her aid and sliced the demon in half

"Erza I need to get you out of here" he said and he leaned forward

"No Gray" she said sternly before shouting "behind you!" he turned as a demon swung its arm at him slicing him across the abdomen; luckily it wasn't poisonous but Gray still groaned

"stupid demon!" he shouted before kicking it sending it flying backwards Gray quickly pulled Erza to the edge of the battle scene "we need to end this" he said as he frantically tried to think if ideas _every time we cut one it just fixes itself and every time we kill one it just multiplies and gets up! There must be a way to stop th-wait! That's it! _"I've got it Gray shouted as he ran forward "hope this works" he muttered "Natsu! Gat Lucy and move her to Erza I need you out the way" for once Natsu nodded and followed Gray's order and ran out the way carrying Lucy. Summing as much power as he could Gray slammed his fists against the ground "freeze!" the ground began to turn to ice but as it touched the demon sit began to freeze them as well they tried to charge at Gray but eventually they couldn't move. Gray stood back up panting but smirking at the same time as he walked back to the rest of the team

"I must say, not bad" Natsu laughed as Erza nodded

"Yes that was a brilliant idea, well done"

"Well I only wanted to protect you guys" Gray answered back causing Natsu to roll his eyes and Erza to look away "well then let's go" Natsu carefully picked up Lucy who was still unconscious. "Erm" Gray leaned down to lift Erza up, she was about to protest but then closed her mouth realising she couldn't walk anyway. "I'm sure it will wear off soon" he said trying to comfort her. She never replied instead she just looked at him

"I'm sorry I wasn't much help" she said as she looked angry with herself"

"Nonsense" Gray stood still "you did more than you realised, I wouldn't have been able to freeze everything if it wasn't for wanting to protect you" he said softly and a light blush appeared on her face.

"Oi what are you two doing come on!" Natsu shouted and Lucy finally woke up

"What happened?" she asked as she looked dazed, Natsu's face softened as he looked at her

"It's ok it's over now" he said softly "just rest now ok" she mumbled but closed her eyes. Just as they were about to leave there was a loud crack and they turned to see the frozen demons shake and crack the glass, once free they all merged together forming a large black ball

"That is not good" Natsu said as he tightened his grip on Lucy

"It's going to blow up!" Gray realised. As Lucy woke up and stood up

"What's going to blow up, whoa what is that!" she cried

Gray walked over to Natsu and passed Erza to him, "get her and Lucy away from here" he said before running back at the ball

"You can't stop it" Natsu shouted

"I have to try otherwise it will kill us all!" Gray shouted back he placed his hands on the ball and winced _damn it really hot _he thought as he began to freeze it

"No Gray! Get away from there" Erza cried "it could blow up at any second"

"This might decrease the damage" he replied "get out of here!"

"We can't leave you!" Natsu shouted "I'm not letting you die"

"No, just go do you want to risk Lucy and Erza's life? Go and make sure they will be safe"

"Gray I won't let you" Erza's plea became desperate and he heard stopped as she saw him smile weakly at her

"Don't worry Erza, I can handle this" he smiled as more of the sphere froze _if only I wasn't so low on magical energy, it's too slow!_

"Gray" Erza said as her eyes began to water, Lucy was already in tears

"I'll be fine, this will be nothing compared to your beatings" he laughed light heartedly "but I just want to say something in case I don't make it"

"Don't talk like that!" Natsu shouted as he fought with his emotions

"Erza I'm sorry I never told you this before, but I wanted the right time, but there might not be a next time and I can't leave this world with this still on me chest" he coughed as more of the black bomb froze over "well for a while now I've been thinking about how I feel and I've come to realise that this is how I do feel, Erza I love you. I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way but I can't help the fact that I have fallen so madly in love with you" he laughed slightly

Erza's eyes widened as looked on at the mage in front of her "Gray-" she never got to finish her sentence as the small section of the orb that wasn't froze blew up even though it was not the full bomb it still sent Gray flying back "GRAY!" Erza cried as she looked in horror as he had taken virtually all of the force of the bomb. He smiled sadly before hitting the ground whacking his head in the process…his eyes closed.

"GRAY NO!"

_**D': depressed myself, please review and tell me how you felt about it. But don't worry this is not the end! I will add another chapter or two so tell me what you think and on that happy note adios!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's notes: sorry this took a long time, I've been ill and had time off and had to catch up with loads of work and sadly had no time to update. But its holiday time now! So I shall be updating! Thanks for the reviews and please enjoy!**_

"Gray!" Erza voice echoed around their surroundings. Suddenly the effect of the poison had worn off and she jumped up out of Natsu's arms, she stumbled forward trying to reach the ice mage ahead of her _I have to be by his side, just like all the times he has done that for me. _He body ached and she felt like she couldn't take another step but still she forced her body to move, no matter how much it hurt she had to go to Gray. She owed him that much.

"Gray!" Natsu shouted as he ran forward, he raced past Erza and knelt beside his childhood rival "wake up Gray! Wake up!" he cried as his eyes watered. Erza stumbled but was held upright she looked and saw that Lucy was holding her steady, her eyes were red and tears still flooded down her face. They stayed in silence as Lucy practically carried Erza to Gray's body. Erza dropped next to Gray unable to hold her tears back anymore when she saw the smile that was still on his face.

"Gray wake up you bastard!" Natsu roared as tears flowed down his cheeks "don't you dare leave us all! How could you do that especially after what you said" he punched the ground with full force causing it to crack. Lucy put her hand on Natsu's shoulder causing him to look up at her

"Natsu" she whispered, she gripped his shoulder and he stood up saying nothing but embraced her as gently as he could. She cried onto the salamander's shoulder. His hand stroked up and down her back trying to comfort her. He started to move away from Gray, Lucy looked up at him and realised what he was doing "yea you're right" she said "we have to give her some time"

"Gray don't be dead" Erza cried as she held her head in her hands "why did this happen now" she lifted her sky to the heavens "you can't take him now" she shouted "it can't be his time yet! Why must he go, just when I find out he loves me?!" her head fell on his bare chest just resting on top of the blue guild mark that her always wore with pride. She never realised till then that they both had the same colour guild marks, _it must have just been a coincident _she thought with "I'm so sorry Gray" she whispered "i-I never got to tell you how I fe-" her voice broke and a light flashed behind her

"Loke" Lucy said in a surprised tone as she looked up as she watched the celestial spirit walk over to his friend

"Gray" he said in low lone he leaned down opposite Erza and placed his hand over Gray's chest. He nodded to himself before placing his ear over his heart "he's still alive" he said with a small smile as he looked up at Erza who was wide eyes "don't worry I won't let one of my closest friends die" he stood up and picked up Gray

"Are you serious?!" Natsu shouted "he's going to be ok?!" Loke tilted his head

"I'm not sure; it's not as straight forward. He is still critical" Loke replied

"Get him to Wendy as fast as you can" Erza said as she looked up at him "please Loke" the celestial spirit looked at her with soft eyes

"I will, good job you guys aren't very far from the guild" he said before looking at Lucy "you all need to be checked out too" Natsu nodded before Loke ran off as fast as he could. Natsu lowered his head

"Don't you die on me ice princess" he whispered not loud enough for the others to hear. Lucy made her way to Erza who was still on the ground

"Come on" she said gently "you're injured too, we should go-"

"No" Erza cut in "I'm going to the guild, we all need to be there for our team mate" Lucy was about to argue but Natsu walked over and helped Erza up

"We are going to the guild" Natsu said in a stern voice "I'll carry you Erza it will be quicker" he never even gave her time to answer he just lifted her up and started to walk as fast as he could. Lucy ran to catch up and walked next to them. They walked in silence, no one dared to say anything. Erza closed her eyes she couldn't hold the tears away any longer and she didn't want to seem so weak in front of Natsu and Lucy.

_It's my fault _she thought bitterly _if I hadn't been so weak I could have protected everyone instead of getting paralysed and leaving the responsibility to Gray, if I was stronger I could have stopped this. What happens if he doesn't make it what do I do? What would a world be like without him? _Erza bit her lip as she tried to block the image from her mind. Eventually exhaustion got the better of her and she drifted off into a deep sleep.

Natsu sighed once he realised Erza wasn't awake "at least she can rest now" he said with a sad smile "she won't be able to deal with her thoughts right away" Lucy looked over at her sleeping friend who was shifting around

"What do you mean Natsu" she asked

"Well this will be typical Erza, she will blame herself now, thinking that she should have been able to protect that idiot" he grunted "I should have been stronger enough too"

"Natsu" Lucy said softly it pained her to see everyone like this "it's none of your faults, we all risk our lives for each other. Gray showed today just how brave he was" Natsu nodded

"Well he better live, I can't let him out do me like that!" he grinned which made Lucy smile _he can be so horrible with Gray but deep down those two are so close. But he's putting on a tough act for me and Erza. I never knew he could be so mature. _But again her gaze went to the other female on the team and her smile falter Lucy couldn't even begin to image what Erza was going through _Gray finally admits his true feelings and then he was nearly taken away from her_. _I've heard how those two were so close before I joined and Cana even told me they were close even before Natsu joined. Their bond is so deep and it seems love is tied into their fate too, I just hope…_"I just hope they get a happy ending" Lucy whispered "please Loke, make sure Gray survives"

Meanwhile:

"Come on buddy" Loke said as he ran "just hang in there not too far now" he could see the guild hall ahead of him, he increased his speed until he finally kicked the guild door open

"Where's Wendy?!" he shouted at first everyone looked at him with a confused face until they looked at who he was carrying

"Gray" they all cried. Thankfully Wendy was in the guild at the time and she rushed forward

"What happened to Gray-san?" she cried as her eyes watered up but she quickly wiped her eyes reaming focused on the task at hand.

"I'm not too sure" Loke said sadly "but there was a bomb, must have been explosive magic and Gray tried to freeze it all to save the others, sadly he didn't freeze it all and the small. It blew up but Gray took the blast, he saved the other" Wendy let out a small cry

"Take him into one of back rooms" Mira said quickly grabbing the bandages and rushing into one of the many rooms. Loke and Wendy followed and the leader of the 12 zodiac gently placed the ice mage down on the bed

"Can you save him?" he asked with a worried expression, Wendy leaned over Gray and placed her hand over his chest

"He's really weak" she said quietly "I'm amazed he's still alive" she gritted her teeth "he has a bad cut at the back of his head, plus the explosion must have damaged some of his vital organs" Mira and Loke looked down sadly. Wendy noticed their expressions and cleared her throat "but don't worry! I will save him Loke-san!" Loke smiled at her broadly

"I know you will Wendy" he said softly and patted her on the back

"GRAY-SAMA!" a loud voice screeched, Wendy turned around but Loke shook his head

"No you and Mira fix Gray up, I'll deal with Juvia" Loke said as he walked out and closed the door

"What is wrong with Gray-sama!?" Juvia shouted and jumped on Loke as soon as he left the room

"Juvia! Get off" Loke shouted and stood upright and brushed dust off his suit "look I'm not going to lie he is in critical condition, hopefully his will make-" Loke got cut off when Juvia tried to run past him

"Juvia must see Gray-sama!" she cried as her eyes released many tears, and even though Loke was inside he could hear the rain that began to pour down as soon as Juvia heard the news. He pulled her back

"I can't let you in there Juvia. Wendy and Mira are doing their best and I can't let you in there. You can't help him Juvia. Just wait" he spoke firmly so the water mage would listen to him. She fell down on the floor and continued weeping. Feeling bad Loke sat down next to her "but don't worry he will ok, I know he will" Juvia looked up with watery eyes

"Yes you are right, this is Gray-sama he can't be defeated yet" a hand rested on her shoulder causing her to look up

"the great Gray will be fine" Cana said confidently even though her eyes were red "but I think we should inform Lyon, after all those two are practically like brothers" Loke stood up and nodded

"I'll go tell him, after all I can just appear there, when Lucy gets back I will return I need to check up on them as well" Loke said and walked away before leaning over to Cana "look after Juvia we don't want the whole guild flooded, but also please look after Erza" Cana raised an eyebrow

"Erza?" Cana asked but then stopped "ahh I see" Loke looked back and smirked before disappearing back to the spirit world. "Damn Gray when you wake up you has got a lot of explaining to do!"

Just then the guild doors open and in limped in the remaining members of the team. "Oh my, is Erza ok?" Cana shouted as Natsu walked forward and pasted Cana to go through the door

"It's ok she's really tired. She just needs some rest and some bandages. But I think she'll want to see Gray first" he said before closing the door. But Lucy rushed in behind him

"Hey I need to check up on Gray too!" Lucy shouted. Juvia looked up and her face darkened

"Lucy" she whispered before glaring up at Cana "why does Lucy get to see Gray-sama before me?!" Cana sighed

"Look Gray is a good friend of mine, hell I knew him before all of you and it hurts me to know my nakama is suffering" she wiped her eyes "but Gray is their teammate they all are bonded together. It's only fair that they are there first" Juvia bowed her head

"Juvia is sorry Cana, Juvia didn't realise how much it was hurting everyone else" Cana's face softened as she sat down next to the rain woman

"It's ok" she said reassuringly "we will wait until he wakes up and then we can go see him" Juvia nodded before returning her gaze to the door

"Gray-sama please be ok" she whispered

…

"Mira could you help me bandage Erza's wounds?" Lucy asked once Natsu had laid Erza down. The white haired woman looked over and nodded

"sure, I've just finished with Gray, it's up to Wendy now" she walked over to her old rival and looked down at her "she looks distressed" she said as she watched the red head roll around

"She's been like that the whole time" Lucy replied "she's having bad dreams. And keeps talking too"

"No Gray" Erza whimpered "doesn't go" Mira sighed before kneeling down to clean the wound on her leg. Lucy followed suit and did the same to Erza's arm

"I haven't seen her like this for a long time" Lucy said

"Just as well Gray can't see her in this state" Mira said as she watched stray tears roll down the re-quip mages face "he hated seeing her cry"

"How's the ice princess doing?" Natsu asked as he leaned against the door

"I'm not too sure yet" Wendy said as she took another deep breath "It seems like his organs are healing now which is good" Natsu looked up and grinned

"Hehe I knew Gray wouldn't die" his smile grew wider. At the mention of a certain ice mage Erza's eyes shot open

"Gray!" her body jolted upwards and she groaned in pain. Lucy gently pushed her back down

"Don't strain yourself Erza its ok, Gray is over there and Wendy is healing him" Mira said softly trying not to alarm the mage. Erza looked over and saw Gray lie motionless on the bed with Wendy standing over him holding her hands over his chest "Gray" she whispered and slowly sat up. Lucy looked concerned but Erza gave her a pleading look "I just want to be near him" she said before standing up. Lucy was about to help her before Erza shook her head "no I can do it on my own" she took a few shaky steps forward as Lucy walked over and leaned on Natsu as he wrapped his arm around her.

Erza sat down besides Gray and placed her hand over his own "please wake up Gray" she whispered as she closed her eyes. A low groan caught everyone's attention and they turned to face the ace mage whose face was scrunched up. Erza opened her eyes and was met with dark blue eyes staring back at her.

"Gray" she said with a smile even though tears fell down her cheeks she let them; these were tears of joy. The others cheered and Wendy plopped down on a seat sighed.

"Oi ice princess you're finally awake! Thought you were going all sleeping beauty on us" Natsu grinned while Lucy slapped his arm

"Natsu! Don't pick on Gray just when he wakes up!" she scolded "sorry Gray but we are all glad you're ok"

But instead Gray leaned up and winced. Immediately Erza supported him "easy Gray" she said softly which was out of character for her. Gray stared blankly at the mages and then looked at Erza. He pushed her away and she looked at him with wide eyes

"Gray what are-" but he cut her off

"Where am I?" he asked as he held his head before looking up "and who are you?"

_**Cliff hanger mwahaha XD but look Gray is alive! XD I told you to bear with me. So please rate and review and tell me what you think. Well that's all for now. I shall be updating my other fic's so later guys!**_


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